Julie Zhuo was Facebook’s first intern, and she became a manager there in her mid-twenties. Those early years as a manager at the company—now named Meta—were tough. She says she often felt like she was in over her head and she made a lot of mistakes.

But Zhuo did eventually learn how to manage team dynamics. When she left Facebook in 2020, she was leading a team of hundreds, as vice president of product design.

Now the co-founder of Sundial, she takes questions from listeners who are struggling to manage their own team dynamics. She offers advice for when your employee is bossing around others on the team, and how to help an underperforming team member.

Zhuo is the author of the book The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You.

Key episode topics include: leadership, developing employees, leading teams, managing people.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

Listen to the original Dear HBR episode: Leading Small Teams (2019)
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The Charlie Kirk Show, August 21, 2025